StarSong
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: A Fourze retelling of "Coraline", Kengo Utahoshi isn't interested with the new "Kamen Rider Club" but soon finds a tunnel in the school that leads him to an alternate Amanogawa High. He finds it a refreshing change to his normal and boring life and soon yearns to stay there forever. He can...if he's willing to pay the price. The Kamen Rider Club must save him before it's too late.
1. White Rabbit

**StarSong**

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rated: T

Summary: Kengo Utahoshi feels like he's the only sane person amongst the other members of the newly created Kamen Rider Club. So one day, he finds himself entering a tunnel to another world, where everything is the opposite of what it seems. As he spends more time there, the denizens want him to stay with them forever and ever. He can...if he's willing to pay their very heavy price.

Note: This story is based on Neil Gaimn's book "Coraline" and the film based on the book. This story also takes place throughout the first twelve episodes of Kamen Rider Fourze.

**Door 1: White Rabbit**

"_If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it wasn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. Don't you see?"_

_-Alice, Disney's Alice in Wonderland_

How the _fuck_ did all of this happen?

That was what Kengo Utahoshi, second-year student of Amanogawa High, had to ask himself when he saw the goofball delinquent Gentaro Kisaragi in the Rabbit Hatch pointing to a humongous white banner pinned on the ceiling of the secluded, empty space base. The banner depicted the white pointed helmet of the newly named "Kamen Rider Fourze" as he was now called, underneath the words "KRC-Kamen Rider Club".

This wasn't some sort of kid club! This was an old secluded space base where his father died seventeen years ago. And now this newcomer started messing it up for his own amusement. It made Kengo's blood boil just thinking about that last bit.

He had half the mind to strangle that stupid, dorky grin off of Gentaro's face and to rip the Kamen Rider Club banner in half. This was _not_ what he had in mind when he was to fight off the Zodiarts. It was supposed to be him that was to go under the name Fourze—his father was the one who created the technology, not Gentaro's! Resisting the urge to scream, Kengo massaged his temples and began to speak.

"And why do we need to have this 'Kamen Rider Club' in the Rabbit Hatch?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be more sensible to have our own club room to ourselves?"

"Where's your sense of secrecy and adventure, Kengo?" asked Gentaro, smoothing back his pompadour. Kengo slighitly flinched at how Gentaro casually spoke his first name like that. "Besides, Yuki agrees with me on that."

"Really?" asked Kengo, turning to the space otaku reading one of her astronomy books. "You're actualy going to put up with this nonsense?"

"Gen-chan has a point, Kengo!" Yuki replied, setting her book down. "The Kamen Rider is a warrior of justice that fights against the forces of evil! Tomo-chan said so!"

"Tomo-chan...you mean that goth girl back at the stadium?"

"Yeah!" Yuki nodded her head. "The Kamen Riders have protected Japan for the past 40 years, their names nothing more than urban legends talked about on the web. And besides, Gentaro is going to be a good help fighting off the Zodiarts. He's shown to be a natural at using the Fourze driver and is willing to help out all who are in trouble."

_Don't remind me..._Kengo thought to himself, seeing the Fourze Driver resting near a few computer monitors. He curled his hand into a fist as he recalled how that idiotic delinquent snatched it out of his hands. It was his father's technology that was passed down to him, so therefore, it was his responsibility to be Fourze and save Amanogawa High from these celestial monsters. But _no_, somehow Gentaro had to find the locker that lead to the Rabbit Hatch. How the hell did that even happen?! In fact, why was Gentaro even interfering with his life? Kengo certainly didn't need someone to get involved with love affairs by picking up soggy love letters in the cold river prior to their first day of school.

"Hey, Kengo," said Gentaro, approaching the stoic teen. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Kengo replied, grabbing his bag and standing up. "Have fun with your little club. I'm going home."

"Hey, wait! Kengo!" Gentaro cried as he saw Kengo leave the Rabbit Hatch. He then sighed. "Kengo..."

"Leave him for now, Gen-chan," said Yuki, approaching her childhood friend. "He needs to be alone for a while. How about we go jump across the moon's surface before heading home? We can test out the Astroswitches so you'll be prepared for the next Zodiarts attack."

"Good idea!" Gentaro exclaimed. "We're off to the Moon! Uchu KITA!"

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Kengo closed the locker door behind him and let out a sigh. Why was he cursed with such a weak body? Why was he the one affected by dizzy spells? Why wasn't _he_ the one saving the day? Why did the whole world hate him?

Brushing the thoughts aside, the only thing that he wanted to do was go to bed. It was a busy day with the Orion Zodiarts now defeated and the Fourze driver being in 'capable' hands. He wasn't even going to mention the energy he used trying to control the Power Dizer unit and taking it back into one of the empty warehouses. He was just glad that no one else knew the truth about the Rabbit Hatch and his father's technology. The less that knew, the better.

As Kengo took the shortcut across the empty hall, he saw something huddled near the shadows. Pulling out a flashlight from his pocket, he pointed it toward the darkness and looked in confusion. It was a small toy rabbit with large button eyes made out of knitted yarn. It turned its gaze toward Kengo, its large ears twitching in curiosity.

"Um, here little guy..." said Kengo, kneeling onto the floor. He brought a hand out to beckon the rabbit to approach him. "Come on, I won't bite...I think..."

The white rabbit twitched its nose before hopping away. Kengo began to chase it across the hallway, curious as to why something like that would be at school. He knew that Amanogawa had a rabbit hatch—why the school had one, he would never know—but he also knew that no student would be stupid enough to deliberately let one loose.

The white rabbit turned to the left and crawled toward a hole in the wall. Kengo approached it, his eyes widening in surprise at what he saw. The white rabbit was traveling down a blue and purple tunnel lit by a multitude of crystals. Kengo tentatively touched one with the tip of his finger and gasped. It was all real.

"I'm dreaming," he said to himself. "This is just a dream...that's all. Yet...why do I feel so curious to see it through?"

As if to answer that question, the white bunny turned around and nodded his head. Kengo did a double-take. Rabbits don't nod heads at humans...did they?

He looked around. There was no one in sight. It wouldn't be that much to just have a little peek inside this tunnel to see where it goes...right? He would just look around for one or two minutes then escape through the tunnel and head home. No one would be the wiser.

Kengo took a deep breath as he began to crawl toward the tunnel toward its destination, using the white rabbit hopping away as his guide.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

After crawling on his hands and knees for what seemed like hours, Kengo emerged at what looked like a replica of Amanogawa High. It was bright and sunny, and there were many students traversing across the hallway. No one paid attention to him—it was if they were all in their own little world.

Kengo began to make some quick observations on the students. They were all wearing the standardized uniform for the school: a white blouse, a dark blue blazer with magenta lining, a plaid tie over some plaid pants (for the boys) and plaid skirts (for the girls). The boys wore brown loafers, the girls had black stockings and Mary Jane shoes. Moreover, he noticed that some of the students would have stitches around their knees and arms, making them resembling dolls.

"Interesting..." he said to himself. "But what are the purpose of the stitches?"

Suddenly, the school bell began to ring. The students began to walk off, laughing and giggling to themselves. Kengo crawled out of the tunnel, trying to find head or tail of the white rabbit that lead him to...wherever he was. Unfortunately, there was no sign of a fluffy tail or a pair of long twitchy ears in sight.

"Strange," he said to himself. "It _looks_ like Amanogawa High, but is it really?"

"Oh, are you the new transfer student?" said a pleasant voice behind Kengo. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Utahoshi."

"Sonada-sensei?" asked Kengo. "What are you do-" He felt his voice leave his throat when he saw his homeroom teacher, Sarina Sonada, staring back at him. The woman behind him looked like the true Sarina Sonada, having her brown hair tucked back with a floral headband and being dressed in pink, but it was her eyes that made him unable to speak.

What should've been a pair of bright brown eyes, were now a pair of dark brown buttons that were staring deep into his soul.

"U-um," Kengo stammered, trying to find the right words. "I'm not sure what's going on, but...but..."

"But what?" Sonada answered, tilting her head. "Don't leave your mouth open like that, silly. You aren't a codfish, you know. Now come with me so I can get you acquainted with your fellow classmates."

_Fellow classmates? _Kengo thought to himself as Sonada grabbed onto his hand. _What could she possibly mean?_

Sonada lead him toward her classroom and opened the door. Kengo saw his fellow students (were they his fellow students? He usually stayed by himself so he never got a chance to actually know them) talking to themselves, talking, giggling and having lots of fun communicating with one another. Sonada picked up a piece of chalk and began to write Kengo's name on the chalkboard. The sound of the chalk against the board made everyone turned toward the new student. Kengo flinched at what he saw: his 'fellow students' all had black or brown buttons as eyes. They stared at him with large grins on their faces that looked as if they were completely sewed on.

_This is nothing more than a dream; a very bad dream..._ Kengo thought to himself. _Just calm down and try and see if you can make it back to that tunnel before..._

"Everyone," said Sonada, turning to her students. "This is our new student, Kengo Utahoshi. He'll be staying with us for the next couple of weeks, so please make him feel welcome, all right?"

"Yes, Sonada-sensei," the students chimed merrily. Kengo just nodded his head in reply, giving the students his best "It's very nice to meet you, but it's rather awkward right now" smile. It was if a giant elephant walked into the room in-between him and the others.

"Now then, Kengo," said Sonada, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I have your seat prepared by the window. Come on and have a seat."

Kengo nodded his head, deciding to play along until it was lunch time and he could easily sneak out and go through the tunnel once more. He approached his desk and sat down. Now that he had a chance to look around, Kengo was sitting in an exact replica of his homeroom: there posters on the right side of the wall, the clock ticking away above the door and the date of September 4th, 2012 written on the right side of the chalkboard. It made him feel like he was in an alien yet familiar land...was this what the white rabbit was trying to show him?

"Hey, look at the new kid, Yuki-chan..." said a familiar voice. "This guy's an Outsider..."

Kengo turned and looked at who he was sitting next to. Staring back at him with their big button eyes were Gentaro Kisaragi and Yuki Jojima. They waved at him while their big stitched grins stretched from ear to ear in an attempt to look pleasant...which wasn't exactly making Kengo feel anymore comfortable than he should be.

If he learned anything from entering through the tunnel just a few minutes ago, Kengo Utahoshi could conclude that whatever he was about to experience in this crazy alternate world was that he was going to remember the whole experience for years to come.


	2. Curiouser and Curiouser

**StarSong**

**Door 2: Curiouser and Curiouser**

_"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."_

_-Marie Curie_

Kengo stayed quiet as Sonada went over the lecture for the day. He didn't need to worry about whether or not if it would be on an upcoming test, seeing as he wasn't actually a student in the parallel Amanogawa High and also because he already heard the lecture back at the real Amanogawa High. So he spent the time writing down some questions on a sheet of paper.

_Where did the white rabbit come from? Why did it lead me to this place? What exactly is this place? Have I landed in an alternate universe? Why do the people here have buttons for eyes and stitched-up smiles? Are these people hostile or gentle? What do they want with me? Am I the first one who has discovered this alternate world? Have there been previous visitors and if so, where are they now? Has this world always existed? Who created the tunnel and why?_

With every question mark Kengo drew at the end of each sentence, the more questions that appeared in his head. He had no clue as to where he was, or how much time had passed since he crawled out of the tunnel, but he knew that he had to get back home. And fast.

Seeing as his fellow...associates Gentaro and Yuki-no, they were _Other_ Gentaro and Yuki here-were too distracted with the lecture, Kengo began to observe them closely. They were dressed just like their real counterparts-the female Amanogawa High uniform for Yuki, and a black jacket, pants, flaming sneakers and red shirt for Gentaro-but they didn't _act_ like them. Well, he knew that Yuki wasn't drumming her fingers in class like she usually did, but Gentaro was even more of a mystery. Kengo only knew him for one day and, aside from knowing Gentaro's desire to befriend people, he didn't know any of the usual habits the delinquent showed in class. This made observing his 'quirks' a little bit difficult.

Eventually, the bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes. It was time for lunch, which gave Kengo the chance to rush out of the classroom and back into the tunnel. No one would notice that he was gone, right?

"Hey, Utahoshi."

Just as Kengo was about to leave his desk to do such a thing, he was stopped when Gentaro—no, _Other_ Gentaro as Kengo had to call him now—placed a pale hand over his shoulder. Kengo took a deep breath and turned around, seeing Other Gentaro and Other Yuki staring at him.

"Have lunch with us, Utahoshi-san!" Other Yuki giggled, pulling out a bento box from her backpack. Surprisingly, Kengo noted, the backpack was a plain blue backpack, devoid of anything related to outer space, while the real Yuki would've decorated her own backpack with a multitude of keychains based on the planets of the solar system. "Chosuke-kun and everyone else will protect you from anyone trying to bullying you."

"Chosuke-kun?" Kengo saw an image of Ban Chosuke, the leader of the delinquents, in his mind. In that image, it was when Gentaro was beating the heck out of them in regards to figuring out the true identity of the Orion Zodiarts. Aside from that, he knew that Chosuke was one of the toughest students in Amanogawa High-well, in the real one at least."Why would he protect me?"

"Because," Other Gentaro replied with a smile, placing a hand on Other Yuki's shoulder. "Yuki-chan and I are his superiors."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

The doors to the cafeteria opened, and Kengo looked on in awe. Spread out in front of him were the multitude of alternate Amanogawa High students—all with their button eyes and stitched smiles—feasting on a magnificent spread of food. There was a table filled with different types of sushi rolls and another table with fountains overflowing with different types of soft drinks. The tables were covered in white cloth and the students were being served by small rabbits with trays balanced over their bodies. Other Yuki took a hold of Kengo's hand and lead him to a table at the far left.

"This way!" she cried, running past the table of otakus and cheerleaders. "It's over here!"

Kengo was trying to add two and two together. Yuki Jojima had been his friend since they both enrolled in Amanogawa High last year who shared his love of space and was also the only person—minus Gentaro—who even knew about the Rabbit Hatch. How was the Yuki in front of him the queen of the delinquents? The real Yuki couldn't—and rather wouldn't—throw a punch at someone even if she was threatened to by gunpoint!

Other Gentaro slowly made his way toward the table, saying hello to the other students as he walked by. Many of the students replied with a hello of their own, causing Other Gentaro to smile once more. Kengo took a note of him—even in a parallel dimension, Gentaro Kisaragi wanted to make lots of friends. Come to think of it, didn't Yuki mention something about Gentaro befriending a thousand people in the span of ten years?

"Everyone!" cried Other Yuki, turning to the delinquents. "Meet our newest member, Kengo Utahoshi! Give him a warm welcome, all right?"

"N-Nice to meet you all," said Kengo, staring at the numerous pairs of button eyes. "I'm very flattered to meet all of you."

"Sit down, buddy," said Other Chosuke, standing up. He smiled—and not in his usual "I am going to beat the shit out of you" smiles. It was truly genuine...minus the stitches covering his face. "A friend of Gentaro and Yuki is a friend of mine!"

"Thank you," said Kengo, bowing his head. "But this is all too much. You see..."

"Hey! Watch where you're going, punk!"

Kengo turned and saw two familiar faces: one was Toshiya Miura in a football jacket glaring at what was a quivering Shun Daimonji with glasses. Surrounding the two was a tray of food splattered everywhere, and a puddle of fruit punch near Miura's feet. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold.

"I-I'm so sorry," said Other Shun, his button eyes hidden under a pair of coke bottle glasses. "I was so caught up with the news on the new kid that I didn't know where I was walking. So, if you don't mind..."

"I _do_ mind, you little piece of trash!" Other Miura snarled, towering over Other Shun. Despite the fact that Other Miura was at least six inches shorter than his target, it somehow made him even more menacing. "And do you know what happens to those who get in my way?"

Other Miura snapped his fingers and the members of Amanogawa High's football team soon surrounded the defenseless Other Shun. Kengo turned and saw Other Yuki pulling out something from her backpack.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Shouldn't someone get the teachers to stop the fighting?"

"Someone should," said Other Yuki, pulling out a wooden baseball bat, and running her hand up and down its handle. "But this is more fun. Incoming!"

Other Yuki jumped onto the table, ran across it before jumping into the air. She performed a forward somersault before knocking one of the jocks down with a whack of her bat.

"...What?" asked Kengo, trying to comprehend what he just witnessed. "How did she..."

"Yuki-chan's been with me since the two of us were forced to fight to survive back in middle school," said Other Gentaro, munching on a croquette. "She's the 'Queen of the Hunting Dogs' for a good reason."

Yuki ducked out of the way of a punch before kicking a second jock in the stomach. She swung her bat to the side and knocked the wind out of three more. She then turned to Other Shun and took his hand, helping him stand up.

"Will you be all right?" she said.

"I-I think so," Other Shun replied, nodding his head. "T-thank you so much and...look out!"

Other Yuki turned around as one of the jocks knocked her unconscious with a plate over the head. She fell with a thud, her baseball bat rolling out of her hands. Other Gentaro snarled when he saw Other Miura taking his girlfriend into his arms.

"Hey!" he said, approaching Other Miura. "You lay your hands off of my girlfriend before I rearrange your face!"

"Really now?" asked Other Miura, pulling out an item from his pocket. It was a switchblade which he flicked to reveal the pointy blade. "Take one more move, and little Yuki here goes bye-bye."

"How dare you..." Other Gentaro growled. "It's just like you punks to act so cowardly that you have to resort to using a knife to actually hurt someone. What makes you so proud of yourself to go around bullying us everyday? We're not your little chess pieces that you can sacrifice to make yourself look good."

Other Miura snarled and dropped his switchblade. Just as he was about to retort, a loud roar shook through the cafeteria. Entering the cafeteria in a cloud of black smoke was a bipedal lion with white fur and dressed in a golden tunic. It had a mane of gold fur going down to its waist and its hands were covered by metal gauntlets fused with a long blade.

"What the fuck is that thing?" asked Other Miura. "Who are you?"

"I am the Leo Minor Zodiarts," the monster growled. "And I'm here to start my reign as King of Amanogawa High!"

The Leo Minor Zodiarts growled as he stabbed Other Miura right in the shoulder. The students began to flee as Other Gentaro went to his girlfriend's side.

"Yuki," he said. "Are you all right? Speak to me..."

"Gen-chan..." Other Yuki murmured, slowly blinking her black button eyes. "What happened to me?"

"You're safe now. We have to get going before AGH!"

Leo Minor Zodiarts stabbed his blade straight through Other Gentaro's heart, chuckling as he saw his prey die in front of his hands. He then set his gaze toward Kengo, and Kengo soon knew what he had to do.

He had to run. Now.


	3. Caucus Race

**StarSong**

**Door 3: Caucus Race**

_"If you think about racing too much, you may just lose it a little bit."_

_-Usain Bolt_

Kengo weaved through the scared Other students of Amanogawa High across the hallway, trying to remember the location of the tunnel that brought him to this alternate world. He didn't know the biology of the other students as to whether or not they were more durable to blades stabbing their chests, but he knew that he would be dead if one of those blades killed him.

"Zodiarts exist here," he said to himself. "But if Zodiarts exist, does this mean..."

Before Kengo had a chance to say anything else, someone grabbed onto his shoulder and dragged him into a broom closet, closing the door behind him. Just as he was about to ask who grabbed him, the lights of the closet turned on, revealing Other Shun.

"Shh," he said. "You're the Outsider, right?"

"That's what Other Gentaro and Other Yuki said," Kengo answered. "Tell me, what is going on here?"

"That's what I want to know," Other Shun adjusted his glasses as he pulled out a laptop from his backpack. "I've been keeping an eye on some sort of intergalactic activity that just started to form. There were these spikes of extraterrestrial energy that is really interesting when one takes a look at it and—"

"What about the Rabbit Hatch? Is there a Fourze Driver and a Power Dizer?"

"What and what?" asked Other Shun. "But if you want to know about the Rabbit Hatch, we have a large rabbit haven where we take care of our pet rabbits and-"

"Never mind," said Kengo, peering through the window of the broom closet. There was no sign of the Leo Minor Zodiarts. That was good. "I have to get going."

"You mean...back to your world? While that monster starts killing us off?"

Kengo hesitated. If there were Zodiarts, there had to be a way to destory them. However, while Gentaro was Fourze in the real world, who was Kamen Rider Fourze here? Answer: there was no Fourze to fend off against the Zodiarts.

Kengo took a deep breath as he opened the door and walked out. The hallway was silent—everyone must've fled the campus for fear of being slaughtered. That was for the best. However, he had no clue as to do next. What now?

Something brushed against his foot. Kengo looked down, seeing three white rabbits sniffing him. Their large ears twitched and one grabbed onto his pants with its front paw.

"Do you want me to follow you somewhere?" asked Kengo, kneeling toward the rabbits. "Where do you want me to go?"

The rabbits soon hopped away, Kengo following them. The rabbits quickly lead him to an abandoned classroom, cluttered with desks, books and a lone file cabinet. One of the rabbits opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet, and another revealed an item Kengo thought he'd never see in the alternate world.

"A Fourze Driver?" he asked, peering into the other drawers. He saw a multitude of Astroswitches, similar to the ones back in the real world. He took four random Astroswitches into his hands and placed them into the Fourze Driver's slots, hearing the names of the Astroswitches as they were inserted. Then, he took the driver into his hands.

"Found you, little mouse..." A low voice growled. "So this is where you were hiding..."

Kengo turned around, seeing Leo Minor Zodiarts enter the room, blades in hand. Kengo narrowed his eyes as he placed the Fourze Driver around his waist. This was what he was supposed to do—Kengo was the one that was destined to destroy the Zodiarts, and in this crazy mixed-up world, he would destroy them.

In this world, Kengo Utahoshi could be a hero.

Fixing his gaze at the Zodiarts, Kengo flipped the tabs of the Fourze Driver down.

**3...**

**2...**

**1!**

"Henshin!" he cried, pulling the lever.

A pillar of light materialized around him, changing his appearance. When Kengo opened his eyes, he found himself wrapped in a white armor and a pointed helmet, with four different symbols on his arms and legs: a circle, a cross, a triangle and square.

"What are you?" asked Leo Minor Zodiarts.

"Just call me 'Fourze'," Kengo replied. "It's time to end this!"

He pressed onto the toppers of two switchers: one in the middle, the other on the far left.

**Launcher/Radar On**

A white communicator with a satellite disah materialized over Fourze's left arm, and a blue rocket launcher filled with five missiles materialized over his right leg. Fourze pointed the Radar at Leo Minor, watching as the screen read, "LOCK ON!" before stomping his right foot. Five missiles flew into the air, targeting the feline Zodiarts.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Leo Minor, slicing away three missiles in the air. Two of them hit their target and he was thrown across the wall, leaving a large whole in its wake. Fourze pressed on the top of an Astroswitch on the far right.

**Rocket On**

The Launcher and Rader Modules faded away as a bright orange rocket strapped onto his right arm. Pointing it toward the string of holes in the wall, Fourze flew toward his opponent, obliterating more and more walls as he went before both he and Leo Zodiarts were outside of the school campus. Leo Zodiarts groaned as Fourze cracked his knuckles.

"Are you going to reveal your true identity now?" asked Fourze.

"Never," Leo Minor snarled, crossing his arms. "Let's see you have a taste of my blades!"

Leo Minor slashed his swords toward Fourze, the white armored hero flying up into the air before landing directly behind the ferocious Zodiarts. Thinking quickly, Fourze swapped the Launcher Astroswitch for a bright cyan one.

**Chainsaw On**

Strapped to Fourze's right boot was a powerful chainsaw that roared to life. Flying toward Leo Minor Zodiarts, Fourze slashed the blades off with a powerful kick with the chainsaw. All that was left of Leo Minor's weapons were the two blunt stumps of metal.

"You son of a bitch!" Leo Minor roared. "That's not fair!"

"Life's not always fair," Fourze replied, rising to the air. "And now to finish this!"

He activated the lever on the Fourze Driver, hearing the sound of sirens chiming as he charged toward the defenseless Zodiarts.

**Limit Break!**

"Rocket Chainsaw 450 Splash!" Fourze cried, pointing his chainsaw foot toward Leo Zodiarts. As he neared the opponent, he performed a forward somersault before cleaving Leo Zodiarts in two with the chainsaw. The Zodiarts exploded in a cloud of Cosmic Energy as something flew into Fourze's hand. It was a black cylinder topped with a white dome and a red button. Kengo knew exactly what to do with it.

"That's that," he said, pressing onto the button of the device. The device faded in a puff of smoke as he looked down at the Fourze Driver. Kengo actually fought one of the Zodiarts head on—without falling ill and collapsing! It was successful...

A little _too_ successful.

Kengo flipped the tabs of the Fourze Driver up, returning to his original form. The threat was gone, and now he could return to his real world without anyone the wiser at what he created.

"Utahoshi-san!"

Kengo turned seeing Other Yuki rushing toward him, baseball bat in hand. Kengo immediately placed the Fourze Driver behind his back as he waved a hello.

"How's Other Gentaro?" he asked. "Will he be all right?"

"Sonada-sensei is checking up on him as we speak," Other Yuki explained. "He'll be out for a few days, but he'll make a fast recovery. And what happened here? Where's that monster? I wanna beat him up for what he did to Gen-chan!"

"He's...gone now. He won't bother anyone ever again."

"Aww, that's no fun! If I ever find out who was that cat, he's gonna be turned into violin strings!" Other Yuki began to practice her swings as she walked back and forth. "No one hurts Gen-chan and gets away with it!"

"Um, that's right. So..." Kengo cleared his throat. "Would you mind if I go back home? I...have stuff to do."

"You'll come back, right?" Other Yuki's 'eyes' began to water. "Please say that you'll come see us soon. We really want you to spend time with us."

"Um, sure. I'll come back next time I can."

"Oh, thank you!" Other Yuki wrapped her arms around Kengo. "You don't know how happy this makes me."

_You have no idea..._Kengo thought to himself, quickly stuffing the Fourze Driver into his bag while Other Yuki wasn't looking.

**0-0-0-0-0**

After finding the tunnel where he once entered, Kengo quickly crawled back to the real world. Checking his watch to one of the nearest clocks in the school stated that the few hours in the Other World only equated to around twenty to thirty minutes in the real world. Barely any time passed at all.

"Kengo-kun!" cried a voice. "Kengo!"

Kengo turned to see Yuki and Gentaro—the real ones at any rate—running toward him.

"There you are!" said Gentaro. "We wondered where you ran off to."

"I just needed some time to be by myself, thank you very much," said Kengo. "And, if you excuse me, I have to get going."

"Does this mean that we'll see you tomorrow at the Rabbit Hatch?" asked Yuki. "We're sorry for what we did. We should've asked you before putting up the Kamen Rider Club banner and everything. Can you ever forgive us?"

Kengo stared into the, normal, eyes of both Gentaro and Yuki. Just moments ago, he saw Gentaro impaled with a sword, and Yuki knocked unconscious with a plate. In the real world, the only trouble they've had was feeling guilty for not thinking things through. Kengo just nodded his head.

"It's all right," he said. "Just...ask me for my permission before doing anything like that again."

"Kengo!" Gentaro exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes. "Does this mean you'll call me your friend yet?"

"...Not just yet," Kengo shook his head. "Listen, I have to get going. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" said Yuki, nodding her head. "Until then, Kengo-kun!"

Kengo waved goodbye as he walked off, placing a hand close to his bag to ensure that what he faced in the Other World wasn't a dream. He slightly unzipped it and felt for the toppers of the various Astroswitches inside. When he felt their cool touch, he realized two important things.

The first thing was that whatever he experienced in the Other World was real. The second was that he had to be the only one who knew of its secrets. Kengo Utahoshi would be student by day in the real world, and Fourze after school in the Other World. That was the only way to get things done.

With a slight smile on his face, Kengo left Amanogawa High and walked home, excited for his next venture into the Other World and the battles that would come with it.


	4. Rabbit's Paws

**StarSong**

**Door 4: The Rabbits' Paws**

"_Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple of them and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."_

_-John Steinbeck_

Kengo opened the door to his apartment, removed his shoes and dropped his bag on the nearest couch. He sniffed the air. Something smelled good.

"But I'm the only one who lives here," he said to himself, walking to the kitchen. "And whenever Yuki cooks, she just hands me a bento box full of 'space food'. If that's the case, who's been in my apartment?"

Poking his head into the kitchen, Kengo saw a multitude of white rabbits cooking food. There was one on a stool, stirring a ladle over a pot of soup, two more rabbits chopping up vegetables, and another kneading dough for fresh noodles. Said rabbit tossed flour onto the chopping board before sneezing.

"Bless you," said Kengo, turning to the rabbits. "Are you making this all for me?"

The rabbits nodded their heads as they began to cook the dinner once more. Kengo turned to the dinner table, seeing a plate of apple slices waiting for him. Curiouisly, the apple peels were in the shape of a large V, representing rabbit ears. On top of the apple slices was a little card. Kengo picked it up and began to read.

"_Other Shun told us about how you fought against that strange lion creature, so Gen-chan and I asked the rabbits to cook you dinner as thanks. Gen-chan also created a craft package for you whenever you get bored, and the rabbits placed it on your bed. Thank you for everything you've done and please come back to see us soon."_

_-Other Yuki_

Kengo smiled as he sat himself down, seeing a few more rabbits hop onto the chairs, handing him a large parfait topped with a cherry. He looked at the dessert with curiosity, taking the spoon into hand. He stuck it into the parfait and began to eat. His eyes widened in surprise at the taste of berries and whipped cream melting in his mouth. He never had something so delicious in his life!

The rabbits liked the look of surprise on his face and scurried toward the kitchen to prepare more and more food for him. Kengo took his time to finish the parfait alongside the apple slices before heading to his room to find the craft package. Opening the door, he found a large box filled with colorful sheets of paper, a few craft books, scraps of fabric, and even a small container filled with needles and thread.

"Curious," Kengo noted as he picked up one of the books. "An origami book? I haven't done origami since elementary school."

He opened the book and found the instruction to make a crane. Seeing as dinner was going to take quite some time, he set himself to at least create one before it was time to eat. Carefully folding, flipping and creasing the paper after some time, Kengo eventually made a small crane out of black, starry paper. He then noticed one more step in the book.

_Step 17: Once you finished your crane, clasp your hands around it and lightly blow on it. Wait three seconds, and watch the magic happen._

There was no image to accompany that step, so Kengo followed the instructions and blew lightly. He opened his hands, waited for three seconds...and saw the little crane flap his wings.

"Whoa," said Kengo, seeing the crane hover everywhere. "This can't be real."

He hesitated at those words. The Fourze Driver in his bag was real, the rabbits cooking him dinner was real and the parfait and apple slices he ate was real. His logic based mind made the conclusion that the hovering crane in front of his eyes _had_ to be real based on conclusive evidence.

Suddenly, a rabbit hopped into his room. Kengo took him into his arms and ran his hands through the rabbit's fur. The rabbit looked up at Kengo, signaling that it was time to eat.

"All right then," said Kengo, standing up. "Dinner is ready and that I shall have. Then, maybe I can get some sleep."

Leaving the crane to see its new surroundings, he went to the dining room to eat.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Dinner was magnificent. The rabbits prepared a bowl of kitsune udon, onigiri stuffed with tuna, and _taiyaki_ stuffed with chocolate. The rabbits didn't seem to eat anything, but Kengo just thought that they were already fed at the campus. Plus, he highly doubt that rabbits could easily accept fried foods, tofu and rice like humans would.

"_Gochisosouma_," said Kengo, finishing his meal. "Thank you for everything."

The rabbits perked their ears and began to put the plates away as Kengo went back to his bag. He pulled out the Fourze Driver—_Other_ Fourze Driver, he mentally corrected—and inspected it. When he had the time, he had to analyze its software. The way that it activated just for him as if it was made for him...

Then again, the original Fourze Driver was supposed to be used by him, but it was snatched by Gentaro. In the Other World, it was the opposite—Gentaro was a regular 'human' being, while Kengo was the secret protector of Amanogawa High. It was if the world was giving him what was due. Plus, Kengo was the only one who knew of the Other World, something that Gentaro would _never_ find out.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was getting late. Slipping the Fourze Driver back into his bag, Kengo sat down, pulled out one of his books, and began to read while the rabbits began washing dishes for their special guest.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

The next two weeks were starting to become routine for Kengo.

First, he was awoken by his origami crane, eat a delicious breakfast made by the rabbits and pack the homemade bento made just for him. Then, he'd go to Amanogawa High for classes, tolerating Gentaro and Yuki's plans to obtain more members of the Kamen Rider Club, before rushing back home to be by himself. Then, he would do his homework, work a bit more on the Other Fourze Driver, have dinner cooked by the rabbits, fold more origami creatures, and then finally be tucked into bed by the rabbits. Life was good.

He was currently in the Rabbit Hatch, testing out the latest Astroswitch, a magenta one with the number 9 stamped on it. Gentaro, currently Kamen Rider Fourze, had placed the Astroswitch on the middle left slot on the Fourze Driver.

**Hopping On**

And Kengo soon realized quickly that a small enclosed space was _not_ the right practice place for a pogo stick attached to one's leg. After watching Fourze bounce around like a ball, he told Gentaro to change back and shook his head.

"We'll have to practice it later," Kengo muttered, making a mental note to have Gentaro practice it on the moon. "For now, let's get going. I have homework."

"You've been going home early for quite some time," said Yuki. "Plus you're always having those _obento_, even though I know you don't have time to cook and...Is that rabbit fur on your coat?"

Kengo noticed a tuft of white fur on his shoulder. The rabbits were taking care of most of his housework for the past few days—including laundry, scrubbing and dusting—so he could focus on homework and the Other Fourze Driver. He's been so preoccupied that he never thought that someone would've noticed something peculiar.

"I've been...taking care of the rabbits on campus," Kengo hastily replied. "They like to sniff and play with me. A lot."

"Rabbits are sure signs of friendship!" Gentaro exclaimed! "Over time, the friendship between these two bloom and more and more friends come to play with them!"

_Yeah...let's go with that..._Kengo thought to himself as the three left the Rabbit Hatch and were soon back on school campus. _Best not tell them about the rabbits at home..._

The leaves were starting to turn red as it was time for Amanogawa High's Queen Festival. The festival was divided into two parts: the first day would have all the contestants on stage performing their special talents. The day after that would have them talk about why they deserved to be queen. The winner was decided by vote, and they would then be crowned Queen of Amanogawa High.

The winner for the past two years was a third year student who went by the name of Miu Kazashiro. Miu was the head of the cheerleading team and was one half of Amanogawa High's power couple, the other half being Amanogawa High's football quarterback Shun Daimonji. Kengo wasn't really interested in the whole thing—he wasn't the one getting on stage, after all—but a thought soon came into his mind. In the real world, Shun was the king of Amanogawa, but who was king in the Other World? He knew Other Gentaro and Other Yuki were leaders of the delinquents, but he never took a chance to know the Other Amanogawa High's hierarchy. Maybe they had a Queen Festival too.

In any rate, Kengo soon found out that Gentaro made a bet with Miu regarding her position as queen: if Miu lost her title of queenship, she would be friends with Gentaro. Should Miu win, then Gentaro would transfer himself out of Amanogawa High. Kengo nearly shook his head—what the hell was this idiot thinking?!

"Come on, Kengo!" said Gentaro, grabbing onto his wrist. "I think I know someone who can help us find a worthy candidate!"

"Wait, let go of me!" Kengo cried as the two ran to a small corner of the school. There, Kengo found the school's delinquents—all of them giving the two a deathly glare. He knew just from their gaze alone that these weren't the 'friendly' delinquents back in the Other World. "Um, Kisaragi...is it wise to be asking these guys about..."

No sooner than that, Gentaro was soon brawling with the delinquents, their bodies tossed onto the ground as Gentaro had their leader, Ban Chosuke, in his grasp. Ban, who looked as if he had already been pummeled by Gentaro in the past, just pointed past him. Kengo turned to where Ban pointed as a student with dirty blond hair and a neon hoodie approached them.

"Nice to meet you," said the boy with a wave of his hand. "I'm the information broker, JK! Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

JK crossed his arms, his hands forming the letters J and K. Kengo just raised an eyebrow as the two began talking about information that somehow segued to Gentaro giving "friendship" in return for JK's information on potential Queen Festival candidates. However, as the two were beginning to leave, Kengo noticed the two rings on JK's fingers.

They were in the shape of lion heads.

He soon had a sinking suspicion as to who the Leo Minor Zodiarts was.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Kengo rushed down the hallway, amazed to see another rabbit for him. Knowing that it was time to go back to the tunnel to the Other World, Kengo followed him to a locker that was in front of the tunnel. Kengo placed it there to camoflage the tunnel from suspicious eyes, and to ensure that no one else could interact with the Other students and know of the Other World's secrets. The rabbit began to paw the locker door, impatiently waiting to enter it.

"I'll get that for you," said Kengo, opening the door. The crystal tunnel formed in front of his eyes, waiting for him to come once more. "Shall we go?"

The rabbit nodded his head as the two entered the tunnel together with Kengo closing the door behind them.

* * *

Translation notes

Kitsune Udon-Regular udon topped with fried tofu pouches. The fried tofu pouches are said to be the favorite food of a kitsune

Taiyaki-Deep fried pastries in the shape of fish usually filled with a sweet red bean past.

Obento-an alternative way of saying 'bento'


	5. The Lion King

**StarSong**

**Door 5: The Lion King**

"_I'm only brave when I have to. Being brave doesn't mean looking for trouble."_

_-Mufasa, The Lion King_

Kengo opened the locker door and stepped out, glad to be back in the Other World once more. He opened his bag and a flurry of origami creatures popped out. There was a frog, a fox, his crane and two or three origami rabbits exploring the hallway of Other Amanogawa High as Kengo looked at the closest clock. It was time for lunch, meaning that there wasn't going to be a lot of students walking across the halls.

"Utahoshi-san!" cried a familiar voice. "You came back!"

Kengo turned around, only to be tackled onto the ground by Other Yuki. He could only laugh as he stared into Other Yuki's bright button eyes. They looked like they were glowing with excitement.

"You kept your promise!" Other Yuki cried. "And not a moment too soon! _He's_ been looking all over for you."

"I know," said Kengo, sitting up. "He goes by the name of 'JK', right?"

"Mm-hmm. I wanted to bash his brains in, but I realized it was disrespectful. _You _should be the one to bash his brains in for what he did to Gen-chan!"

"Well..." Kengo pulled out the Other Fourze Driver. "I think I'm more than a match for him. What's Other JK like?"

"Other JK is the most well-informed student in Amanogawa High. He has dirt on _everybody_. His girlfriend's a real pain in the neck too. Oh!" Other Yuki picked up the origami fox. "He's so cute!"

"I've been working on that origami stuff from Other Gentaro," said Kengo, pulling out the book from his bag. "I've been getting real good."

"Does this mean you'll also be working on the thousand cranes? What are you going to wish for?"

"That," Kengo placed a finger to his lips. "Is my little secret."

The happy times were interrupted when they heard someone stomp on one of the origami creatures. Kengo looked up, seeing Other JK looking down at him. Unlike the colorful hoodie and bright blond hair the real JK had, the Other JK had a black jacket with red streaks and dark black hair with three silver streaks. His button eyes were also black—but then again, _all_ students had black button eyes. Just as Kengo suspected, the Other JK had two silver rings in the shape of lion heads.

"Well, well, well," said Other JK. "It seems that our little Outsider's come back for a world of pain."

"You're trying to be the king of Other Amanogawa?" asked Kengo, slowly standing up. "You're more of a wuss-puss if you ask me."

"Why you..." Other JK grabbed onto Kengo's shoulders. "You're the son of a bitch who sliced me in half with a chainsaw last time we met! That is something I will _never_ forgive."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"How about we have a contest?" Other JK released his grip and paced back and forth. "The Queen's Festival is coming up, and the school needs some new candidates. So, I shall be sponsoring my pretty Tomo-chan..."

_His girlfriend is Other Tomoko Nozama?_ Kengo thought to himself, raising an eyebrow. _What does he see in her?_

"And you have to find someone that will go against me," Other JK finished, poking at Kengo's chest. "You have two days-"

"Real world time or Other World time?" Kengo interrupted.

"_Real World _time," Other JK growled. "And you need to find a suitable candidate to fight against my sweet beloved Tomo-chan. The festival is divided into two parts-"

"Talent show and Speech, right?"

"Will you stop interrupting me?!" Other JK snapped, rolling his sleeves. "Don't make me break you in half."

"I know what the Queen Festival is like; my _real_ school is hosting one in a few days." Kengo replied. "And I already have my candidate." He placed a hand on Other Yuki's shoulder, but Other Yuki stepped back. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention something?" said Other JK. "Your little homerun queen's been banned from participating in any future Queen Festivals after the 'fireworks display' she did for the talent competition."

"I double checked the recipe for the gunpowder!" Other Yuki replied with a pout. "Don't blame me for no one heeding my warnings."

"Great," said Kengo, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"One more thing," said Other JK. "If Tomo-chan wins, then I can assure you that you'll _never_ be allowed to enter the Other World again. And..." Other JK snarled. "If _you_ win..."

"I'll think about what to do if I win," said Kengo, bringing a hand out. "Shake on it?"

"Fine," Other JK grabbed Kengo's hand and the two shook. "Good luck on finding someone for my precious Tomo-chan to _crush. _Toodle-loo!"

Kengo watched Other JK walk off before he looked at his feet. The poor origami crane that Other JK crushed looked very pitiful when he scooped it into his hands. It slightly twitched before shaking itself free. It fluttered around until landing on Kengo's shoulder, with no sign of injury on it. That was a relief.

"Other Yuki," said Kengo, motioning for the origami creatures to hop back into the bag. Once he knew that all of them were present and accounted for, he turned to the slightly irritated girl. "Are there any candidates that would be worthy to fight against Other Tomoko?"

"I wouldn't know much about girly stuff," Other Yuki replied, scratching her head. "That's why my talent portion was the whole fireworks display."

"Ah."

"But it's lunch time, so the best candidates should be gathered together for food. Come on! We're having bunny rolls for dessert!"

_I really hope she's talking about pastries instead of meat..._Kengo thought as the two walked toward the cafeteria.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Look at how cute they are!" Other Yuki cried, picking up a basket of bunny rolls from a rabbit waiter. "Look, Utahoshi-san!"

Kengo picked up a roll and inspected it carefully. The rolls were in the shape of baby rabbits with two small holes for eyes. He took one into his mouth and chewed.

"Chocolate!" he exclaimed. "It's amazing!"

"Chocolate was said to be food for the Aztec gods in ancient times," said Other Gentaro, walking toward the table. He sat down and popped a bunny roll into his mouth. "It's said that King Montezuma drank a spicy chocolate drink at least 50 times in a single day, and cacao beans were used more as currency than as dessert. Neat, huh?"

"Agreed," Kengo took another roll into his mouth as a bunny waiter appeared next to him, setting down a spider roll for him. "Thanks."

The bunny wiggled his nose as Kengo stroked his fur before hopping off. Kengo then looked around, hoping to find a candidate for Other JK's challenge. Unfortunately, since he was so disassociated with most of Amanogawa High, he didn't know many of the female students having lunch. This was going to be a lot harder than he expected.

Suddenly, there was the sound of plates breaking on the floor. That was accompanied by some witchy laughter as Kengo turned around. There was a girl whose blouse was stained with chocolate, her tray of food splattered everywhere. The girl, with her short brown hair and eyes looked so familiar. But why?

"Oh, that's Miu-chan," said Other Yuki. "She's a new student here."

_That's Other Miu?! _Kengo exclaimed, recalling the proud Queen of Amanogawa High back in his school. _She looks so tiny and scared…like a mouse._

"And the girls who just hexed her is Other Tomoko and her posse of Lunar Witches," Other Yuki finished.

Kengo looked at the four girls laughing as Other Miu quietly picked up her plate and tray and walked off, holding her head up high. Kengo observed Other Miu's posture as she sat down all by her lonesome self—despite not being as aggravating and proud in the real world, he couldn't help but admit that Other Miu also had some inner beauty inside her.

"And then there was that time where they—Utahoshi-san? Hello? Are you listening?"

Kengo stood up and approached Other Miu's table, carrying his plate of spider rolls. He set the plate down as Other Miu looked up.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" he asked.

"Um...sure," Other Miu replied, looking down at her feet. "It's fine."

Kengo sat down and broke a pair of chopsticks, taking one piece of the spider roll into his mouth. As he ate, he took a better look at Other Miu. Her short brown hair had a small flower barrette that pushed her bangs back, revealing her brown button eyes. She had two small golden studs for earrings, but what truly captivated Kengo was the blush on her cheeks. It gave her the look of a shy maiden waiting for her prince to sweep her off her feet.

"U-um," said Other Miu. "You're going to ask me to participate in the Queen Festival, aren't you?"

"Me? Of course not," Kengo took another spider roll piece into his mouth. "You said it, not me."

"I don't know if I have what it takes. I mean, they all like Tomoko for her dark aura and macabre interests. No one likes origami and-"

"Did you say 'origami'?" Kengo recalled the letter that came with the craft package before staring at Other Miu. This couldn't have been coincidence...could it?

"Yeah," Other Miu brushed back a strand of brown hair as she lifted her gaze at Kengo. "I've been working on the thousand cranes, and I'm almost done. The only question is that I don't know where to put them all once I make my wish. Why do you ask?"

Kengo felt his eyes light up with excitement. Maybe there was a way to win against Other JK's challenge after all...

"Come with me," he said, standing up. "I have an idea for the Queen Festival that will definitely make the student body amazed. Will you join me?"

"S-sure," said Other Miu. "But what does origami have to do with this?"

"Let's just say that we have your gimmick for the Talent Show," Kengo replied with a smile. "Meet me after class. You're going to love my idea."

**0-0-0-0-0**

"That is a _crazy_ idea!" Other Shun exclaimed.

Kengo sighed as he looked at Other Gentaro, Other Yuki and Other Miu nodding their heads in agreement. After classes were over, Kengo invited the four Other students to the classroom where he found the Fourze Driver to formulate Miu's performance at the Talent Show. Unfortunately, no one was actually agreeing with him.

"It will work, trust me," said Kengo. "I just need you to come with me to the Real World and help me work on it. The Queen Fest in my world starts this Thursday—which is the deadline that Other JK gave me. Moreover," He pulled out the Other Fourze Driver from his bag. "You guys still need someone to protect you from those Zodiarts."

"Wow," said Other Miu, taking the driver into her hands. "How does this work?"

"I've been doing research on it, but it will take some time to explain everything," Kengo answered. "And that's not the point."

"Then what is?" asked Other Shun. "Why exactly are you going on this deal with Other JK? In theory, you don't really benefit from these little adventures to the Other World—you have a life in the Real World."

"I do, but it's not as exciting or as...lively as it is here." Kengo took the Other Fourze Driver into his hands and snapped his fingers. His origami friends hopped out of the bag and hovered around Other Miu, resting on her head and shoulders. "Besides, I'm a hero in this world. I can't be Fourze in the real world since some stupid son of a bitch with a dorky grin snatched the Fourze Driver from my hands and is currently going willy-nilly with it."

"What kind of an idiot does that sort of thing?" asked Other Gentaro.

"..."

"Oh."

"So," Kengo clapped his hands as the origami creatures jumped back into the bag. "Who's up for a trip to the Real World?"

The four Other students stayed silent as Kengo patiently waited for a reply. He tapped his foot and checked his watch (which was adjusted to the clocks at Amanogawa in the real world). It was only 5:00 PM, meaning that the majority of the students would've left for home right about now. Getting four Other students into the Real World would be a piece of cake.

"Well," said Other Shun. "Going to the Real World would be an interesting experience. I mean, only the rabbits get a chance to stretch their legs, so to speak."

"Other Shun is right," said Other Yuki, stroking her beloved baseball bat. "I also wanna play a good game of fizzball with any soda cans you have lying around."

"I need a good break from classes," said Other Gentaro, stretching his arms. "We can stay at your place tonight then go back to classes early in the morning. Sonada-sensei wouldn't mind."

"Well, Other Miu?" asked Kengo. "Everyone else wants to go. What do you think?"

"Well, um...I...I think..." Other Miu nodded her head. "Let's do this! I'm signing up for the Queen Festival!"

"Very well," said Kengo, nodding his head. "Now, let's get going. We don't have any time to waste."

* * *

Note

Spider Roll: A sushi roll with deep fried soft-shell crab, spicy mayonnaise and vegetables like cucumbers and avocado inside seaweed and sushi rice.


	6. Paper Man

**StarSong**

**Door 6: Paper Man**

"_Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning."_

_-Maya Angelou_

"Okay, the coast is clear!"

Kengo turned to the four Other students behind him, looking a bit nervous as to what was going on. Kengo, on the other hand, lightly pushed the locker door open before stepping out, standing in the hallways of the real Amanogawa High. Just as he suspected, there was no one at all.

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," he said, turning to the Other students. "Come on, I'm not getting any younger."

Other Yuki was the first to step out, brandishing her trusty baseball bat—whom she affectionaly nicknamed Hubble—to protect her from danger. When there was none, she slightly lowered her guard.

"There's no Zodiarts here," said Kengo. "Now come on, we have to get going before..."

"Kengo!" cried a very loud voice. "There you are!"

"Hide!" Kengo cried hastily, pushing Other Yuki back into the locker, he closed the door shut and pressed his back against it as Gentaro grabbed onto his shoulders with Yuki not far behind. Kengo just feel the tension as he heard Other Yuki whisper, "_That_ is my counterpart?"

"There was this Chamaleon Zodiarts that could turn invisible and then a scorpion that was somehow responsible for it!" Gentaro explained. "I tried using the Hopping Switch on Scorpio but then..."

"You fell flat on your face, didn't you?" Kengo replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah..." said Gentaro, rubbing a hand behind his head. "I was also trying to get rival candidates for the Queen Fest, but all of them said no. So..."

"Gen-chan asked me to fight against Kazashiro-san!" said Yuki. "He also said that with you helping me with my love of space, we could creat something that will help Gen-chan stay in Amanogawa. What do you think?"

Kengo held his breath as he stared at Gentaro and Yuki before reminding himself that four students were waiting to go to his house. This was one of those times where he found himself between a rock and a hard place.

_However,_ Kengo immediately thought to himself. _Even without my help, there's no way Jojima-san will be able to scratch a dent into the student body. Ironic, considering this is a space-based school. Although, if it will appease this idiot, let Kisaragi have his fun. I've got more important things to do._

"I'm sorry," Kengo said aloud. "While I do believe that Yuki is a good candidate against Miu and her cheerleading posse, I have some important business that _doesn't_ involve cheerleaders and pom-poms."

"Eh?" Gentaro exclaimed, grabbing onto Kengo's shoulders. "But we need you, buddy! You're the one who's able to help Yuki shine bright like a-"

"Don't you DARE touch me like that!" Kengo snarled, pushing Gentaro away. As he said that, he felt another headache come through. He fell onto the ground and place both hands on his head. "Ugh...why now?"

"Kengo-kun," said Yuki, helping Kengo stand up. "Are you all right?"

"I need to get home," Kengo muttered, one hand on his forehead, another hand lightly rapping against the locker door. "Can you please...just give me some peace and quiet?"

"All right," Gentaro whispered. "See you tomorrow!"

_Yeah, right._ Kengo thought, seeing the two friends brainstorm ideas for the Queen Fest. Once he knew the two were gone, he opened the locker door, causing the Other counterparts of Gentaro, Yuki, Shun and Miu to topple over like dominoes.

"Warn us next time!" Other Gentaro muttered, rubbing his head. "I do _not_ like having to see my Yuki-chan looking like she's about to kill someone when in confined spaces. She _hates_ those."

"Sorry about that," said Kengo. "I didn't want your counterparts to know you were there."

"The 'real' Gentaro was quite...locquacious," said Other Shun, wiping his glasses with his shirt. "That's all I can say."

"Tell me about it."

"So," Other Yuki clapped her hands together. "Let's go to Utahoshi-san's house and have dinner there! What's for dinner?"

"Whatever the rabbits are cooking, I guess," Kengo answered. "Their menu is always changing and whenever I eat it, I've never felt so energetic and lively. It's like I can take on the world."

"Has it also caused your skin to look a little pale?"

"Huh?" Kengo looked into Other Miu's compact mirror and lightly touched his face. It was true—he looked paler than usual.

"Probably due to not enough sunlight," Other Shun suggested. "Or you need more Vitamin D in your diet."

"I'm about to give someone their daily supplement of _pain_ if we don't high-tail it out of here," said Other Gentaro, cracking his knuckles. "That wuss-puss is gonna pay for stabbing me in the fucking chest, let me tell you..."

"Other Gentaro is right," said Kengo. "Come on, and don't mind the rabbits tackling you when you enter the house. They're very clingy."

"Clingy?" asked Other Miu, raising an eyebrow.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

"Stop it!" cried Other Miu, feeling the rabbits sniffing and snuggling against her. "You're so cute!"

Once the group made it to Kengo's apartment, the rabbits rushed toward to Kengo's side, sniffing him and introducing themselves to the newcomers. Other Miu was being tickle tortured by the rabbits' twitchy ears and noses.

"Shoo!" said Other Yuki, playfully swinging her bat to the side to get the rabbits hopping away. "We have some stuff to do, bunnies!"

"I didn't know Other Yuki liked bunnies," said Kengo, turning to Other Gentaro. "And yet she told me she's not that into girl stuff."

"Rabbits are a big part of her childhood," Other Kengo explained, crouching down and running his hands down a baby rabbit's fur. "That's how the two of us met."

"Animals are usually the beings that bridge connections to one another," said Other Shun. "We humans are no different."

The rabbits hopped back to the kitchen, some grabbing kitchen knives, others stacked up in a ladder to pull the refrigerator open, and two more tossing vegetables into a deep fryer. Another bunny hopped back to Kengo with a tray of lotus root tempura perfectly balanced on his back.

"Thank you," said Kengo, taking a fried lotus root slice into his mouth. After a few seconds, he nodded his head. "Good job. Definitely your best batch so far!"

The rabbit scratched behind his ear before hopping back to the kitchen. Other Shun quickly began counting the rabbits inside the house.

"Just one question," he said to Kengo. "Where do these rabbits sleep and why are they doing your housework?"

"They sleep anywhere in the house and they just do it because," Kengo replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Now come on, let's get to my room to start the plan.

The five students entered Kengo's bedroom. It was simple enough: a bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and a closet for clothes. Decorating the room were numerous origami figurines ranging dragons and swans to small paper flowers and hearts. Kengo just looked at them with pride.

"I've had a lot of time on my hands," he replied, taking an origami dragon into his hands. "It's time to wake up."

With a small puff of air, the origami dragon began to hover around, inspecting the newcomers and their button eyes. Other Miu and Other Shun looked in awe, while Other Gentaro stared at the box of origami paper and the back at origami figurines scattered everywhere as if contemplating something.

"Anything wrong, Gen-chan?" asked Other Yuki, noticing the look of worry on her friend's face. "Are you all right?"

"It's nothing," Other Gentaro replied. "We should be focusing on what Utahoshi-san wants from us."

"It's pretty simple," said Kengo, taking a paper fan hanging on a nail. "When Other Miu said she liked origami, I thought that she can do what I do: bring them to life with this."

"But we just saw you breathe on the dragon," said Other Miu. "I don't know if I have the ability to do that."

"Who said you're breathing on it? Here," Kengo handed the fan to Other Miu. "Fan yourself a bit."

Other Miu began to fan herself, not really expecting anything. After a few seconds, she heard the sound of birds chirping. She looked around to see a few origami birds flutter toward her, singing a sweet tune.

"Oops!" she exclaimed, dropping the fan. "Did I do that?"

"I was experimenting the other evening and it seems that by fanning them or breathing on them gives them life," said Kengo, letting an origami canary perch on his finger. "They can also stay dormant for a while until someone blows air once more."

"I see," said Other Yuki. "You want Other Miu to use the fan to bring the origami to life!"

"But she just can't stand still folding paper over and over," said Other Shun. "Knowing the student body, they'd want something...'flashy' to suit their needs."

"That's why I'm getting to the good part," said Kengo. "The origami is going to do another vital thing: they'll make up Other Miu's dress."

"I'm going up on stage _naked_?!" Other Miu exclaimed. "Not even in your wildest dreams!"

"I meant she gets a simple white dress and as she dances and twirls around, the origami animals gather around her. We can even make origami lanterns that light up to get the crowd going," Kengo continued to babble ideas as Other Shun tried his best to write them all down. Other Yuki tried to touch an origami phoenix with her baseball bat and Other Gentaro was slowly nodding his head, still having a look of worry on his face. Other Miu sat on the bed, letting more of the origami animals stare at her in curiosity.

"So," Kengo said, clapping his hands. "Do you think we can pull this off?"

"I think," said Other Miu. "That we're going to need lots of paper for this to work."

"I've already tried to work on some designs," said Other Shun, showing some sketches in his notebook. While they weren't made by the hands of a master artist, it still had enough detail to show which origami animals went where on the dress, along with arrows positioning where they would land and what color they would be.

"Doesn't look that difficult," said Other Yuki. "This will be easy to pull off!"

"Perfect," said Kengo. "All right, we'll start folding the basic origami pieces and I'm going to need Other Yuki's expertise in fireworks for the lanterns. Then..."

DING-DONG!

The sound of a doorbell interrupted Kengo's thoughts. He told the Other students to stay in his room as he walked toward the front door. He went to the window and partly opened the curtains to see who was there.

"Kengo-kun!" said a female voice. "I brought you some dinner!"

"Kengo!" cried a very loud male voice. "Open up! It's dinner time!"

Kengo stepped back as he soon realized what was going on. The people at his door were Gentaro and Yuki—the _real_ Gentaro and Yuki.

Oh shit.


	7. Kengo's Dinner Table

**StarSong**

**Door 7: **Kengo's Dinner Table

"_Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry gets the best of the argument."_

_-Voltaire, the philosopher_

Kengo rushed to the kitchen and told the rabbits to hide. The rabbits, understanding what he was trying to say, immediately did. He also went to his room and told the Other students to lay low and to not expose themselves to the real Gentaro and Yuki. Who knew what would happen if both Gentaros and Yukis met?

Kengo knew that rejecting Yuki and Gentaro's offer to have dinner would be a very impolite thing to do. So, taking a deep breath, he opened the door and forced a smile on his face as he saw Yuki enter the house with dinner in hand.

"We felt sorry for intruding on you and wanted to cook something to cheer you up," Yuki explained, removing her shoes. "It's _oyakadon_ and some _unagi_ to go with it. Gen-chan even made some _dango_ to help cheer you up."

"Sweets are said to help make people's lives better than before," Gentaro explained. "It will definitely help put a smile on your face."

_I'd smile once you two leave me alone..._Kengo thought. Instead he said, "Thank you for your time. Let me set the table and we can eat."

Yuki nodded her head as she approached the dinner table, removed the cloth that tied the food together and opened their lids, letting their aroma settle in the room. Kengo tried his best to smell the food, but it smelled funny. It was if the food was tainted. It was probably his imagination.

"Eh!" said Gentaro, seeing the plates of _katsu_ curry on the counter. "Yuki, look at this!" He scooped some of the curry into his mouth and placed a hand near his mouth. "It's so good!"

"Really?" asked Yuki, also taking a bite out of the curry. She let it settle into her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. "It _is_ good! Kengo, where did you get the recipe?"

"Um...funny story," Kengo explaned, seeing Gentaro and Yuki each take a plate of curry for their own. "But shouldn't we be having the food you cooked for me, Yuki?"

"Oh!" Yuki placed the curry onto the counter. "Right...that's what we'll do."

Gentaro also set his own curry plate away as he sat down at the dinner table. Once he, Yuki and Kengo said, _"Itadakimasu," _they began to eat. While Gentaro was joyously praising Yuki's cooking, Kengo had the opposite reaction. The _oyakudon_ tasted rubbery, the _unagi_ tasted too sweet, and the _dango_ was too doughy. However, he was too polite to Yuki to comment on it, but it was strange. He and Yuki shared bentos most of last year, and not once did he complain about her cooking. Was it just him, or was something wrong with his tastebuds lately?

"So, Kengo," said Yuki, once they were done with dinner. "Do you have any clue who might be the Chamaeleon Zodiarts?"

"If it's going after contestants of the Queen Festival, then it has to be someone who wants to eliminate the competition," Kengo stated quickly, downing his meal with some water. "Aside from Miu, there are also her two cheerleading groupies: Tamae Sakuma and Jun Shigeno. Those should be your top two suspects."

"Why isn't Miu one of them?" asked Gentaro, placing a _dango_ into his mouth.

"Because," Kengo set his water cup down and said, "She's not that kind of person to cheat."

"Are you sure?" asked Yuki. "How do you know this?"

"Call it intuition," said Kengo, turning to his room. "The Scorpio Zodiarts, however, I have no idea. It could be anyone in this school—and that's saying something. Also, Kisaragi..."

"Yes, Kengo?" asked Gentaro.

"Don't be an idiot and use the Hopping Switch again," Kengo replied. "You're going to get yourself killed with that thing."

"No I won't!" Gentaro rummaged through his pocket before pulling out the magenta Astroswitch stamped with the number 9. "I'm sure that this can be useful in some way. Trust me on that, Kengo."

_Like I'm trusting you with my father's technology? _Kengo thought bitterly. _Yeah, right._

Dinner soon ended with Yuki washing the dishes and Gentaro talking on and on about his stories before entering Amanogawa High. Most of them were about all of the people he befriended over the years—Kengo remembered something about Gentaro befriending a thousand people in the span of a decade—while Yuki listened in interst. Once the dishes were nice and dry, Yuki hugged Kengo and soon left with Gentaro back home, the two once again talking about Yuki's performance in the talent show. Once Kengo knew they weren't coming back, he closed the door and let out a long sigh.

"All right," said Kengo, clapping his hands. "You can come out now."

The bunnies popped out from underneath the couch, from behind the curtains, the cupboards and other nooks and crannies. They began to reheat the food and prepare the table for four people as Kengo entered his room. Much to his amazement, he found the Other students already working on the origami needed for Other Miu's dress.

"Thought it would be good to speed things up," said Other Yuki, folding a piece of paper to create a small cube. She blew on the end, causing it to expand three times its size. "I thought those two would never leave,"

"I couldn't say no to them," said Kengo, shrugging his shoulders. He saw Other Gentaro folding small strips of paper into tiny stars. "What are you planning with that?"

"I thought we could stuff some of those water balloon cubes with stars and toss them toward the audience. Then they would explode and the stars would shower them. You know, like shooting stars."

"I'm also working on a routine to make the use of our time," said Other Shun. "Each person has three minutes to showcase their skills to the audience and then the day after will be the speeches. The speeches are to showcase what makes the candidate perfect to be queen for the year."

"So it's just a typical festival thing," Kengo muttered, quickly folding a piece of paper into the shape of a bunny. He doodled some eyes, a nose, and whiskers before blowing on its ears. The rabbit's ears twitched before it hopped toward Other Yuki. "Nothing to worry about."

"There's just one problem..." said Other Shun. "JK blackmails potential voters to choose Tomoko and thus turns the tides on the voting. No one is able to prove that the blackmail is going on, but we all know what really's going on."

"Not to worry," said Kengo, gathering everyone together. "I've got a plan."

**0-0-0-0-0**

"And that's how we're doing it," Kengo finished, seeing the others finally eating dinner. "I think that should get people to vote for Other Miu."

"Ingenious!" said Other Shun, biting on a piece of sweet potato tempura. "I would've never thought of it."

"You're such a genius, Utahoshi-san!" Other Yuki exclaimed. "And this curry's delicious!"

"Thank the chefs," said Kengo, taking a bunny into his hands. "They were the ones who cooked everything."

"And they're so cute!" Other Miu exclaimed. "It's too bad you have to keep them a secret—what if they could do stuff for other people?"

A light bulb turned on in Kengo's head. He whispered something into the rabbit's ear, set it down onto the floor, and watched it hop off into the darkness. He then sat himself down and took a bite out of another piece of lotus root tempura. Unlike Yuki's cooking, he could already tell that the fried root slice was delicious.

"So," said Other Gentaro, setting his chopsticks down. "What did you ask that rabbit to do?"

"I just sent him to a dear friend of mine," Kengo answered. "He'll take care of everything."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

In the Jojima resident, Yuki looked at her Hayabusa cosplay—which consisted of some spare kitchen supplies and a large cardboard box—and smiled in pride. This was definitely going to help her win the Queen Festival for sure!

"Yuki!" her mother cried from upstairs. "Time to go to bed!"

"Coming mom!" Yuki cried, walking upstairs and into the bathroom. She soon began to brush her teeth, recalling the taste of the _katsu_ curry back at Kengo's house. Comparing the taste of that to her own food was impossible. Yet...something was wrong. It wasn't the fact that it was so delicious, but when she observed Kengo eating her own cooking, there was a hint of...disgust. Was her cooking that bad?

Come to think of it, Kengo was bringing lunches to school everyday. Usually, he'd just take something small from the cafeteria, eat, then head to the Rabbit Hatch for some peace and quiet. In the last few weeks, Kengo wasn't acting himself. Aside from him going home early and the lunches from home, he seemed so...distant. There was this look in his eyes that were trying to say, "I feel like I don't belong here." Having known him the longest, Yuki just had a strange feeling that something wasn't right.

After brushing her teeth and dressing herself into a pair of star-patterned pajamas, Yuki Jojima went to bed. While she slept, she didn't notice the bunny rabbit appearing underneath her bed. It hopped toward the large cardboard box, sniffed it, then nodded its head.

It had a lot of work to do before sunrise, that's for sure.

* * *

Translation notes

Katsu curry-Curry with tonkatsu (deep fried breaded pork cutlet)

Oyakudon-"Parent and child bowl" consisting of eggs and chicken cooked together on top of a bowl of rice.

Unagi-Grilled eel

Dango-small dumplings made out of mochiko (rice flower). Usually skewered with three dumplings at a time.


	8. Show Stoppers

**StarSong**

**Door 8: **Show Stoppers

"_Our work is the presentation of our capabilities."_

_-Edward Gibbon_

Two days later, it was time for the Queen's Festival.

Kengo was up and early, eating a hearty breakfast of rice porridge before rushing off with another lunch in hand. The plan was to see up to Yuki's performance before heading back to the Other World to supervise Other Miu's performance. The night before, he and Other Shun helped Other Miu walk across the stage and her choreography as well as getting the origami to leap toward her and form the dress. He also told Other Gentaro and Other Yuki to keep some of their men and hand and to come see him if things got bad. Aside from that, things were going to be all right.

"Kengo-kun!" said Yuki, seeing Kengo walking to the school gates. "You're just in time! You get to see my awesome Hayabusa costume!"

"That's great!" Kengo replied. "So..."

"Here!" Yuki showed him her cellphone. "What do you think?"

Kengo didn't know how well the rabbits were in arts and crafts, but when he saw the costume he just nodded his head. It definitely looked better than what Yuki could ever come up with. He didn't want to say this in front of her face, but she was rather at drawing instead of cosplaying.

"Yesterday, my parents showed me the Hayabusa costume and it was amazing!" Yuki exclaimed. "I also found these little guys!" She unzipped her bag and pulled out two baby rabbits. "They're going to help me out with the performance! My costume is put away in the Rabbit Hatch for safe keeping, and I'll bring it out when it's time to perform!"

"Great..." Kengo replied, seeing the two baby rabbits rub their faces. He only recalled asking one rabbit to go fix up Yuki's costume. Finding out that the rabbits multiplying in the Jojima residence wasn't part of the plan. "What about your parents? Aren't they allergic to rabbits?"

"Not at all! In fact, when they found the rabbits cooking and mending their costumes, they welcomed them with open arms!" Yuki explained. "As long as we don't expose them to loud music, they've become part of the family! You should've been there this morning for breakfast! They made these delicious crepes and-"

"Kengo!" cried a voice. Kengo turned to see Gentaro rushing up to them. "Good to see you up and early. So, are you going to see Yuki's performance?"

"He definitely will, Gen-chan!" said Yuki. "Come on, the show's about to start! And look who I brought!"

"Eh!" Gentaro took a baby rabbit into his hands. "He's so cute!"

The baby rabbit twitched its ears and stood on its hind legs, staring into Gentaro's eyes. Kengo wanted to retort, but an idea came into his mind. The rabbits could be used for his advantage to keep Yuki and Gentaro away from his usual activities.

"Yuki," he said to his close friend. "Would you mind if Kisaragi kept one of the rabbits?"

"Not at all!" Yuki answered. "I bet they can help his grandfather around the house and help Gen-chan with his grades! All Gentaro has to do is feed him some food and water and that's all!"

"Great!" Kengo replied with a bright smile on his face. _That's all I need..._ He thought in his mind.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Classes were short as everyone began to move to the auditorium. Yuki was with Gentaro backstage, getting suited in her Hayabusa costume while Kengo stayed in the far back of the auditorium, mindlessly folding a piece of paper into another origami crane. All he had to do was wait for Yuki to be booted off from stage so he could easily make it to where he needed to be.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone!" cried JK, dressed in a gold sequined suit. He climbed up to the stage and bowed stating, "Welcome to this year's Amanogawa High Queen Festival!"

That was met by the students applauding and waving fans—all of them printed with Miu's face—into the air. Kengo rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Now then," said JK. "To start the performance contest, we bring out our first entry! From Class B of the second year, I present to you...Yuki Jojima!"

As JK walked off stage, Yuki rushed to the stage, dressed as a satellite. The base of the satellite was a shiny gold color and mounted on the base were two large rectangles that represented the satellite's solar panels and on her head was a white hat to resemble a satellite dish that was painted silver. Following Yuki onto the stage were a multitude of rabbits of different sizes.

"What the heck is that?" asked a student.

"She looks ridiculous!" said another.

"Get her off the stage now!" cried a third.

_Well..._Kengo thought, seeing Yuki introducing herself as the satellite "Hayabusa". _This will definitely be a show that people will forget. _He sighed. _If only there was a way to make this more entertaining and a little more dramatic..._

The rabbits, as if hearing their master's command, soon hopped onto Yuki. Before anyone had the time to ask why, there was a loud, horrible scream! The rabbits began to bite and nibble on the poor girl and her costume, causing the people who booed at her into begging someone to get her to the school infirmary.

"Yuki!" cried Gentaro, racing toward his friend from backstage. "What's going AGH!"

More and more rabbits jumped onto the delinquent, nibbling on his clothes and leaving horrible bite marks everywhere. Kengo, who had no idea what was going on, reached toward his bag and unzipped it. He was met with his assortment of origami animals all waiting to be let loose. He took a glance at the audience still watching in horror as to what was going on before he leaned into the bag.

"We better get going while everyone is distracted," he said to the origami animals inside. "Come on, the show's about to start."

With that, Kengo opened the door to the auditorium and headed out. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the girl with long black hair and black bowtie seeing him disappear from the panicky crowd.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Five minutes later, Kengo hopped into the locker and crawled his way through the blue-purple tunnel into Other Amanogawa. Hundreds of posters advertising the Queen Festival were taped to the lockers as everyone was walking toward the auditorium. Kengo quickly blended into the crowd as he sneaked his way backstage to meet with the Other Students. He quickly found his way toward Other Miu's dressing room, seeing Other Gentaro, Other Yuki and Other Shun fitting her in a plain white dress.

"There you are!" said Other Yuki., seeing Kengo closing the door behind him "What happened to you?"

"Rampaging rabbits," He replied. He circled around Other Miu and nodded his head. "She looks great!"

"You're just saying that," said Other Miu, fanning herself with a paper fan. "I'm worried about Other Tomoko's production and Other JK rigging the votes, though."

"You're going to do great," said Other Shun. "We have everything figured out and..."

There was a knock on the door. Other Gentaro opened it to find Other JK and Other Tomoko standing outside. Other JK tossed a coin into the air before catching it. He glared at Kengo and Kengo returned the glare.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"My beloved is doing the coin toss to decide who goes first," Other Tomoko replied, dressed in a black dress that went to her knees, decorated with rhinestones. She giggled as she ran her clawed hands through her long, black hair. "Of course, we all know who's going first."

"I'm not going to back down from you," said Other Miu, glaring at her opponent. "Bring it on."

"All right," said Other JK, coin in hand. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads," Other Tomoko replied.

"I choose tails," Other Miu stated calmly. "I'm not afraid of you, Tomoko. In fact, I feel nothing but pity."

"...What did you say?" Other Tomoko's button eyes shone with fury, her stitched mouth turning into a snarl.

"You heard what I said," said Other Miu, folding her arms across her chest. "I feel sorry for what you're going to go through in the end."

"Save the talk for tomorrow, ladies," said Other JK. "All right...here we go!"

He tossed the coin into the air, six pairs of eyes watching it flip back and forth between heads and tails. It landed on the ground with a clatter, spinning round and around until it landed on heads.

"Yes!" Other Tomoko cackled. "I get to go first!" She leaned toward Other Miu's face and sneered, "Good luck trying to top my act."

"The coin says all," said Other JK, picking it up. "Break a leg, Miu. You're going to need it."

Other Gentaro slammed the door in front of their faces and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Once he heard Other JK and Other Tomoko walk away,he spoke.

"That coin was rigged, and you knew it," he said to Other Miu. "Why didn't you call them out on it?"

"Just because they cheat, doesn't mean that I will," Other Miu answered. "Now, let's get on with the show, shall we?"

"As you command, your highness," said Kengo with a bow.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

The students of Other Amanogawa High were just as rowdy and excited for the talent show as their real world counterparts. The Queen Festival was very important to them, as it determined who ruled over the school for the whole year. The Queen was in charge of the social affairs in regards to dances, the school festival, etc. Therefore, the Queen had to have specific qualities that would help the school flourish.

There was the sound of a drumroll as Other JK appeared with a microphone in hand on stage.

"Welcome to this year's Queen Festival!" he announced to a quiet crowd. "You all know what's at stake, so I'll just skip the formalities! For now, the first of our two talent show performances goes to the lovely, dark, mysterious and enchanting Tomoko Nozama!"

Other JK left the stage as the curtains began to rise.


	9. Light against Darkness

**StarSong**

**Door 9: **Light against Darkness

"_And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."_

_-John 1:5 (King James Edition)_

Back in the real world, the Queen's Festival had to be cancelled as paramedics wheeled Gentaro and Yuki to the hospital. The rabbits were corralled and were taken away to be diagnosed for rabies, but it still didn't make the school any less nervous. No one was in the mood for celebrating after what went wrong.

"This sucks, doesn't it?" said Jun, tossing a banana chip into her mouth. "We were going to knock the competition out with our cheerleading routine, right?"

"Serves that little nutcase right," Tamae scoffed, brushing her hair. "Who would actually decide to dress up in such a ridiculous get up? What do you think, Miu?"

"…I hope she gets better," Miu answered. "I highly doubt those rabbits were trained to assault anyone in their path. Plus, that _trashiest of trash_ went there to save her like a knight in shining armor. I didn't see anyone else actually stop the fighting, did you?"

"N-no," Jun stuttered, tossing her empty bag of banana chips away. "They just stood there."

"Exactly," Miu closed her compact mirror and stuffed it in her bag. "These people stand there and do nothing while innocent people get attacked. Does a queen want to be the ruler of these idiots? No—she wants them to actually do something."

"But those rabbits pulled that delinquent in when he tried to help that stupid otaku," Tamae noted. "Maybe they were just scared that it would happen to them."

"They didn't seem scared to vocalize in wanting Jojima off the stage, did they?" Miu sighed and stared to walk off. "I'm going to the bowling alley. I need to be alone for a while."

"Have fun!" said Jun, waving good bye. Tamae, on the other hand, only clenched on the Zodiarts Switch she held behind her back.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"_Double, double, toil and trouble…"_

"_Fire burn and cauldron bubble!"_

A set of three spotlights emerged, revealing three girls dressed in black hooded robes and blindfolds surrounded by a bubbling cauldron. The first witch, noted by the red blindfold covering her eyes, was the one to speak.

"Come away, come away," she chanted. "Hecate, come away, come away!"

A geyser of flames burst from the cauldron. When it vanished, Other Tomoko appeared, levitating in mid-air. Dressed in her black witch attire and wielding a wand in her hand, she lifted it into the air as a bolt of lightning struck the black orb on top.

"I come, I come, I come, I come!" said Other Tomoko. "With all the speed I may, with all the speed I may!"

She levitated above the amazed students as a murder of crows flocked toward her, letting out a chorus of caws. The crows swirled around until they combined to form a marvelous black feathered cape as Other Tomoko slowly made her descent onto the ground. She smiled as she raised her scepter in the air.

"I come, Graymalkin!" she announced. With a wave of the scepter, a large grey cat emerged, yowling at anyone in its way. "Paddock calls! Anon!"

Two more lightning bolts produced a large warty toad and a raven with glowing red eyes. The three witches back on the stage began to chant once more, their voices repeating, "Fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air." Lightning was produced and the performance ended with the three animal familiars exploding in a loud BOOM! Then, all was silent.

Other Tomoko descended to the ground and curtseyed toward her adoring fans. There was some silence, before the audience began to roar with approval. The four witches smirked—victory was close at hand.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

"Well," said Other Gentaro, crossing his arms. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the students applauding the macabre performance. "Looks like our chances to win have been shot to high heaven."

"We still have a chance," said Other Shun. "The voting doesn't begin until after the debate, which is tomorrow. So all we have to do is ensure that we get the crowd on Other Miu's side and make sure we catch Other JK in the act of his blackmail and the rigging of the votes."

"I just wanna bash someone's head in though!" Other Yuki pouted, swinging her baseball bat around. "This is so unfair!"

"We just have to prove that Other Miu is better then," said Kengo. "After the performance, I have to get back to the real world. Something happened."

"What do you mean?" asked Other Miu, combing her hair.

"I gave one of the rabbits to my friend and they helped her with her role in Queen's Fest," Kengo explained. "However, when the bunnies got on stage, they started attacking her for no reason. Is there any reason why this happened?"

No one spoke. Kengo looked back and forth, noticing the expression the Others' faces. There was a sense of dread that filled the air. He tensed up, preparing to go for the Other Fourze Driver to defend himself, when Other Yuki answered the question.

"They don't like being the center of attention," she explained. "They like working in the shadows, doing little things like cooking and cleaning. When someone shines a spotlight on them, or put them on stage, they get tense."

"Ah," said Kengo, looking back at the Other Fourze Driver before sharing a glance at his partners. "I didn't know that."

"Now you know!" Other Yuki giggled.

Other Miu picked up a paper fan and placed a necklace of paper stars around her neck. She looked herself once more in the mirror and smiled. She was ready for her performance.

"Break a leg out there," said Other Shun, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be great."

"Thank you," said Other Miu, bowing toward everyone. "Now, do we all know the next part?"

"Yep!" Other Yuki pulled out a bundle of black clothes from her bag. "Everyone, get dressed! We're all going to be on stage!"

**0-0-0-0-0-**

The audience was getting antsy waiting for the next performer. They were still in awe with Other Tomoko's enchanting show of witchcraft and wizardry, and many of them began to discuss how that would be topped.

Four beings in black appeared on stage, running across the stage while carrying long strips of white cloth. The audience began to grow silent as the _kuroko_ left, revealing Other Miu on stage in her white dress. In her hands were a paper fan and a small paper bomb. She tossed the bomb into the air and lightly tapped it with her fan, sending it flying into the air. It exploded and a multitude of stars fell onto the ground.

Behind Other Miu, a set of fountain fireworks exploded, sending small sparks and smoke into the air. She raised her hands up as the _kuroko _returned, showering her with origami as if it were snow. Other Miu began to dance and twirl around, pulling out another paper fan from her dress and leaping about as if she was participating in a ballet.

As Other Miu twirled around and around, her fan lightly tapped the origami pieces as they fell. Sometimes she would scoop them up from the ground with her fans, while other times she would lightly kick them into the air with her bare feet. The _kuroko_ finished their performance on stage by tossing a huge bucket of origami into the air. Origami flowers, birds and butterflies surrounded Other Miu like a tornado, clinging to her shoulders, hair and dress by some mysterious force. A butterfly landed on her hair, while roses, lilies and cherry blossoms of red and pink hues made the majority of her dress. A large purple lotus blossom nestled onto her bosom.

Yellow paper canaries chirped and perched onto Other Miu's arms as the dress was finally completed. Going from top to bottom, the colors were layed from white, to pink and to a bright red. She still kept a radiant smile on her face as another set of fountain fireworks were lit, sending bright sparks in their wake.

There was some silence as Other Miu curtseyed toward the audience. Then, someone clapped. It was then met with others cheering and applauding for the graceful performace, all while Other JK and Other Tomoko were in the back, glaring with hatred.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

"That was so much fun!" said Other Yuki, removing the black hood over her face. "And did you see the looks on their faces? Hilarious!"

"That was great, Utahoshi-san," said Other Gentaro. "If the plan is going like this, then we'll make sure Other Miu wins the pageant."

"Judging by the applause outside, there's a 95% chance that Other Miu will win hands down," said Other Shun. "All that we have to do is act our parts tomorrow and we'll be a shoe-in. What do you think?"

"Wha?" Kengo looked up. "Oh, yeah. That's good."

"Are you all right?" asked Other Yuki. "You've been distracted about something."

"I have to get going," Kengo removed the hood and the black suit covering his body. "The real Gentaro and Yuki are probably in the hospital for the rabbit bites and they're going to hate me for bringing in the rabbits..."

"At least give them this!" Other Gentaro went into his bag and pulled out a white box. Opening it, he revealed a dozen or so bunny rolls. "These are special 'Surprise Bunny Rolls', stuffed with different times of sweetness. There's chocolate cream, strawberry jam, whipped cream..."

"Those will have to do," Kengo quickly took the box into his hands and stuffed it into his bag. "I have to get going. See you later."

"Bye-bye!" said Other Yuki, seeing Kengo dash out of the auditorium. When he could not be seen, she narrowed her eyes. "Why does he care about those two?"

"It's the association of guilt that comes to mind," said Other Shun. "If we can eliminated that feeling from him, then he won't have to relate feeling sorry about those two."

"But how?" asked Other Gentaro, crossing his arms. "What can we do to make him not want to be around _them_?"

"We just do what we can do for now," said Other Yuki. "Just keep being company here and make his life better, and then all fall into place. And if he doesn't like it?" She pulled out her baseball bat and grinned. "Well, we can always use force."


	10. Medication

**StarSong**

**Door 10: Medication**

"_Friendship is a wildly underrated medication."_

_-Anna Deavere Smith_

Kengo hopped out of the locker and closed it, glad that there was no one in sight. Something was just very awkward over the whole conversation back at the Other world. The moment that the Others were silent once he mentioned the rabbits assaulting Gentaro and Yuki and then tried to brush it up with the rabbits being shy. If the rabbits were shy, why did they decide to reveal themselves to Yuki and let Gentaro pet one? Something didn't add up.

He looked at the box of special rabbit rolls that Other Yuki gave him and opened it. In front of him were twelve little rolls shaped like rabbits with a special filling inside. He was tempted to try one—he hadn't had anything to eat the entire day due to helping Other Miu in getting her dressed up and tossing the origami around—but knew that it was him being selfish. Besides, the rabbits at home were probably preparing a meal for him right now.

"Where did you get that box?" asked a voice.

Kengo turned and saw Tomoko Nozama standing in the hallway. He wanted to ask why she was still at school, but kept his mouth shut. Tomoko then repeated her question.

"I said, 'Where did you get that box?'"

"I had it on me since this morning," Kengo answered. "Why do you ask?"

"What's inside the box?"

"That's none of your business."

"Then why do you have it out in the open?"

"It's because it doesn't fit in my bag," Kengo, pointed to the duffel bag strapped over his left shoulder. "And the contents would get crushed by my textbooks."

Tomoko kept her stare at Kengo, while Kengo stayed perfectly still, hoping that this waiting game would convince her to give up. After a tense minute or two, she sighed.

"Fine," she said. "If that is your excuse, then so be it. Just be careful, Utahoshi-san. Trouble awaits you around the corner."

With that, she left. Kengo watched until she turned a corner before looking inside the box once more. He would give these for Gentaro and Yuki to share, and then go back home for rest and relaxation. The tense moment with the Others was gone, and things would be back to normal in the morning...or at least, he hoped that was the case.

He turned his gaze back at the locker, expecting one of the Other students to give him a message, but he was only met with silence. He then walked out of Amanogawa High, hoping to find a student who would at least know which hospital Yuki and Gentaro were currently staying at.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

After finding the information he needed, and taking a bus to the hospital, Kengo entered the room where Gentaro and Yuki were currently staying at. Next to Yuki's side were her parents, who were singing along to a song about a 'Hayabusa-kun', while an old man was sitting near Gentaro's side.

"It's fine, jii-chan," Gentaro replied. "I'll befriend all those little bunnies eventually."

"You could've been seriously injured, Gentaro!" The old man exclaimed. "I can't lose you. It was already bad enough when your parents died..."

Kengo kept silent as he heard that last sentence. Gentaro didn't have parents, yet he always kept smiling. How was that possible? Why was Gentaro the optimistic goofball despite his past?

Gentaro noticed Kengo standing in the middle of the room and said, "You came to see me! What did you bring?"

"Oh, this?" asked Kengo, turning to the box in his hand. "I bought them at a bakery close by the school after I heard what happened to you and Yuki. Are you all right, Kisaragi?"

"I will be," said Gentaro. He saw Kengo sit down and place the box on the sidetable. "What's in here?"

Kengo lifted the lid of the box, revealing the one dozen bunny rolls. Gentaro took one into his hands.

"They're so cute..." he said. "I wonder what's inside it."

"_Hopefully not real rabbit meat," _Kengo thought to himself, seeing Gentaro toss the bunny roll into his mouth. There was some silence as Gentaro chewed on the pastry before his eyes lit up and he sat up.

"PASTRY KITA!" he screamed, raising his arms over his head. "This is giving me so much energy! What's in them?"

"Er..." Kengo himself didn't know what was in them and didn't even have a chance to see the type of filling that went into the bunny roll. Thinking quick, he said, "My feelings of friendship for you to ensure that you get better?"

"Kengo!" Gentaro exclaimed, hugging Kengo and patting his back. "Our friendship is willing to give me a speedy recovery! Thank you!"

"_No...thank the Others..." _Kengo thought. _"They're the more considerate ones..." _An idea lit up in his head. _"Wait a minute..."_

"Kisaragi, I mean Gentaro," said Kengo, correcting himself. "Why don't I take you to the people who made the bunny rolls once you and Yuki make a full recovery? I'm sure that all of you will become good friends!"

"Friends talk to one another through their feelings," said Gentaro. "And I could feel their love through these pastries..." He took another into his mouth and sighed. "It's so good..."

"Really?" Kengo picked one and bit into it. He tasted the creamy chocolate melt in his tongue, making him feel so relaxed and happy. He licked his lips as he took the rest of the roll into his mouth. "You're right...they are delicious!"

"Kengo," said Goro, rising to his knees and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Thank you for being there for Gentaro. It's not easy for him being the new kid at school, and I'm glad that he's found a good friend in you."

"Thank you..." Kengo bowed his head. "I appreciate your kind words."

"Hey, Yuki!" said Gentaro, waving his hand toward his childhood friend. "Try these bunny rolls out, they're delicious!"

"Really?" said Yuki. "What do they look like?"

"Catch!" Gentaro tossed two bunny rolls into the air, and they landed on Yuki's lap. Yuki popped one into her mouth and smiled.

"Strawberry!" she exclaimed. "It's so sweet in my mouth!"

"Thank Kengo for them," said Gentaro. "He went out of his way to give us something sweet and fill our hearts with his act of friendship!"

"It was nothing," Kengo replied, taking another bunny roll into his mouth. This time he tasted mint choclate. "But I have to get going with homework and all of that. I'll see you in the morning."

"Bye bye!" said Yuki. Her parents also waved a good-bye as Kengo left the hospital, smiling at the taste of melting chocolate in his mouth.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

When Kengo opened the door to his apartment, he was greeted by the multitude of rabbits sniffing him and pawing at his pants. Kengo chuckled as he lightly shook his foot, signaling them to get back to work. The rabbits scurried back to the kitchen, while some began to set the table for their host.

"Today was really strange," he told them. He set his bag down on the sofa and approached the dining room. "I just hope there won't be any Zodiarts attacks in the future...or better yet..."

He went to his bag and opened it, pulling out the Fourze driver. He remembered using it against the Leo Minor Zodiarts, how he could seemlessly fight without feeling tired. More and more ideas came into his head, as he finally figured out what he must do.

"I'm the real Kamen Rider Fourze," he said. "Not Kisaragi...he's just filling in as me, but it's actually _my_ job. After all, it's not his father who died on the moon. It's not like doesn't have a family to go to...but me..." he laughed. "I need to be Fourze...it's all I ever wanted to be."

The rabbits stopped their chores to see Kengo place the Fourze Driver around his waist, he then picked up four different Astroswitches, hearing the Driver speak their names. His smile grew larger as he found himself fighthing the Zodiarts, destroying them with each and every Limit Break he could imagine.

Just as he was about to flip the tabs of the Driver down, the rabbits began plating tonight's dinner. Kengo sat himself down, seeing a plate of omurice and carrot pickles waiting for him. A baby rabbit hopped onto his lap, sniffing his stomach.

"Thank you, little one," said Kengo. "We're going to have a busy day ahead of us, won't we? If Kisaragi is is incapacitated, no one would notice. He's just butting into everyone's business after all..."

With that said, he began to eat his meal in silence, all while plotting how he'd usurp Gentaro as Fourze in his mind.


End file.
